Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, India is fighting a two-front war. On one front, it is battling the virus. On the other, it faces the challenge of containing the spread of religious hatred fanned by the Tablighi Jamaat meet held in New Delhi last month. The Tablighi Jamaat has come under a barrage of criticism for holding the congregation that has emerged as a Covid-19 cluster.
The Union Health Ministry maintained that last month's congregation at Nizamuddin in New Delhi has pushed the doubling rate of cases in India to 4.1 days from the estimated 7.4 days. Many members who attended the meet were tested positive for Covid-19. What fuelled the fire was the fact that a majority of overseas members had arrived on tourist visa. Still, there were reports of them conducting meetings and door to door visits across the country to spread religious messages.
The ministry, in early April, said that one of India's every five confirmed coronavirus patients was linked to the Tablighi Jamaat meet that is under the scanner for allegedly violating social distancing guidelines by convening a massive religious congregation.
The followers have been traced across 10 states and UTs in India. In states like Maharashtra and Gujarat, Muslim neighbourhoods have emerged as hotspots for the virus spread. What followed an official confirmation attributing the rise in Covid cases due to the congregation were viral messages on social media platforms, blaming the community for jeopardising the situation. The objective of the congregation, also attended by overseas members from Malaysia, Indonesia and Pakistan, was to further its mission of reviving 'true' Islam. Instead, the community's around 200 million people in India are finding themselves at the receiving end of a hate campaign.
In cities like Ahmedabad, where a clear ghettoization indicates the distance minority and majority maintain between them, the distrust for one another has intensified. Text and video messages in a large number have popped warning Hindus against even maintaining commercial links with Muslims, as `they are out as human bombs'. Incidents of the attack on health workers and police in Muslim dominated areas reported from places like UP, MP, Delhi and Ahmedabad strengthen negative emotions among the majority. An incident involving Gujarat Congress MLA Imran Khedawala's meeting with Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani, hours after he gave swab for Covid-19 test, fuelled the fire. By the time Khedawala was back to Khadiya, his constituency in Ahmedabad, his Covid-19 test result had come positive. Entire unsuspecting CMO, and other top bureaucrats, had met the MLA. Rupani had no choice, but to isolate himself at the official residence in Gandhinagar. He had to look after the state affairs through technology and digital platform. Given the sensitive communal history of Gujarat, such incidents were received with a great degree of suspicion by the laymen.
The administration has taken action against both sides. Maulana Saad Kandhalvi, leader of the Tablighi Jamaat, has been booked by the Delhi police under the Epidemic Disease Act. Various state governments appealed and warned of legal action against hate mongers. But legal efforts have failed to bridge the divide between members of different faiths.
The Supreme Court refused to pass any interim orders in connection with a petition seeking action against the media for allegedly communalising the Covid-19 pandemic in light of the Tablighi Jamaat meeting. The court said it could not gag the media. The petitioners said there was violence due to the "communal headlines" and "bigoted statements" in the media about Tablighi Jamaat members and Muslims.
The petition, filed by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind, had claimed that the media had communalised the Nizamuddin Markaz event and that some sections of print and electronic media had "demonised the entire Muslim community." The leaders and celebrities from both sides have made firm statements, some of which are unsparing.
Wrestler-turned politician Babita Phogat has hit out at critics who slammed her over her controversial tweet that 'Jamaati' is a bigger problem than the novel coronavirus pandemic in India. Her statement came after Rangoli Chandel, manager and sister of Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut, posted a controversial tweet against Tablighi Jamaat group, which led to her Twitter account being suspended.
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Tablighi Jamaat origin & mission
The Tablighi Jamaat (Society of Preachers) was founded by a Deobandi Islamic scholar Muhammad Ilyas al-Kandhlawi in Mewat, India, in 1926. As its name suggests, Al-Kandhlawi’s goal was to establish a group of dedicated preachers as a Muslim revivalist society, who could revive “true” Islam, which he saw was not being practised by many Muslims. Inspired by the Deobandi creed, the Tablighis urge fellow Muslims to live as the Prophet did. They are theologically opposed to the syncretic nature of Sufi Islam and insist on its members to dress as the Prophet did (trouser or robe should be above the ankle). Claimed to non-political, they have also decried violence in the name of religion. They say the Prophet Mohammed has commanded all Muslims to convey the message of Allah, and the Tablighis take this as their duty. They divide themselves into small Jamaats (societies) and frequently travel across the world to spread the message of Islam to Muslim houses. During this travel, they stay in local mosques.
